The invention relates to emergency escape and survival from potential and imminent aircraft crash situations mostly in military combat aircraft. Escape is accomplished in the prior art with a crewman's aircraft seat ejected from the aircraft by means of a seat-rocket catapult. Following seat ejection, the ejectee crewman separates from the seat immediately and automatically. The ejectee's parachute is then deployed automatically lowering the escapee crewman to the ground safely, often very near the crashed airplane. This capability of the state-of-the-art is retained in this seat adding the flying capability and aerodynamic configuration as an add-on second selective mode feature to the present state-of-the-art seat to be used at selected altitudes above the ground.
This invention is an add-on concept capability to the current highly developed operational survival ejection seat which has zero altitude and zero speed survivable ejection capability combined with high altitude and high speed escape capability. This invention is in two parts comprising two separate patent applications, the first of which is this application disclosing the deployment concept for the currently operational state-of-the-art zero altitude zero speed with high altitude high speed deployment having the add-on concept means of aerodynamic flight configuration.
This application discloses the add-on features and the sequence of deployment of the add-on flight capability comprising the wings, the empennage (tail) and the power plants, including the articulated seat bucket to place the airman in the minimum aerodynamic drag configuration in the prone position with his face downward, his head forward, and complete head to feet body proximately 180 degree stretch-out configuration.
The second patent application discloses and claims the structural details and the actuation and attachment of the folded wings to the seat back, the attachment and deployment of the folded tail and the deployment of the powerplants folded into the head rest, all of which requires a proper weight distribution as taught by this patent disclosure to produce an aerodynamically controllable and viable flying seat. The second patent application discloses the folded and extended mechanical means of the wings, the span and chord extension means of the wings. The second application also discloses the folding and extending means of the tail and folding and extending means for the powerplants including the fuel tanks and manual flight control means. These features are in concept an add-on means and they become integrally designed with the currently operational military seat which is the current state-of-the-art in ejection seats but lacking the flight across country capability which this invention provides.
In military combat it may be undesirable due to enemy action on the ground to land near the downed aircraft. The Vietnam conflict demonstrated that it was very hazardous from the standpoint of being captured for the downed ejectee airman to land near his fallen aircraft. Consequently, a great effort was made to develope an emergency escape system that gave the ejectee crewman an ability to fly from the scene of the plane's accident in his own ejected seat.
The Kaman Company in 1970-1973 developed a prototype seat with such capability, although it seemingly lacked feasibility due to its high aerodynamic drag with the occupant in low speed, low range, complexity, and obvious impractibility. It was also an incomplete system. It lacked zero aircraft speed and zero aircraft altitude survivability, and it lacked water survivability and general overall survivability provided in the current stateof-the-art emergency ejection seats.
Other patents : Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,157, Bouchnik Moshav U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,671, and Zimmer U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,728 are representative of the current state-of-the-art flying emergency airmen ejection systems. They are unlike this invention's open flying seat. Robert's has a glide down capability only and has no powerplant to sustain flight, and provides no prone occupant attitude with prone head forward, face downward, forward stretch-out seat to reduce aerodynamic drag to increase escape range as does this disclosure. Both Bouchnick's and Zimmer's disclosures are escape capsules using rockets for capsule ejection, and possibly a short burst of thrust to initiate a short glide away from the accident scene. Rockets are not cross-country cruise powerplants. The powerful rockets used are for initial separation of the capsule from the doomed aircraft, similar in function to the rocket used in this invention of the flying seat and for aircraft separation. For sustaining cruise across country this invention uses a fuel economical, low powered jet engine. The above capsule inventions are used only for escape from high speed aircraft in supersonic flight. The above capsules do not provide for across country cruising flight as does this invention.
The teaching of the following references separately or collectively of Uhor U.S. Pat. No. 3,173,620, Barwood U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,464, Look U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,210, Sinnett, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,465, Jordan U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,035, Dimitrowsky, U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,532, and McIntyre U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,731, do not enable one skilled in the art to conceive, design, or to construct this nationally most urgently needed escape device disclosd by this applicant. The fundamental teaching of the applicant's device is a free-flying, aerodynamically compatible seat with the escapee's seat device prone, head forward, face downward, and body stretched out with the feet supported horizontally aft in a minimum drag configuration for the maximum fuel economy, maximum cross country free-flight range, and for maximum speed. It is an add-on concept device essentially to a state-of-the-art zero altitude, zero speed ejection seat. Nowhere in the above references is that teaching found.
The references all cited above, make no contribution to teaching of the state-of-the art of a combined zero-zero ejection seat with a free-flying cross-country capability in an emergency escape seat having maximum speed, and maximum range which the applicant teaches and which is necessary to flee from the enemy during ejection in combat.
Jordan does not rotate the seat bucket with relation to the back rest. There is no pivotal connection of the seat bucket in Jordan to achieve the applicant's required result. Jordan's pivot 4 is in the top of the seat back rest and suitable only to Jordan for high speed, high acellerating maneuvering aircraft. Jordan requires the seat occupant to recline in a very uncomfortable supine configuration while the occupant conducts his duties in the aircraft. This cannot be comfortably endured for long in any aircraft and is unacceptable in other military aircraft where the applicant's teaching is urgently needed.
Jordan is not a flying seat and teaches nothing useable in a flying seat. During ejection Jordan rotates violently counterclockwise from the catapult thrust and again is violently arrested when the seat-man strikes the catapult only to be destructed by the rocket fire and blast when the seat is parallel with the rocket and then is placed into a fatal anti clockwise spin from the side thrust of the rocket against the seat. The applicant's aerodynamic empennage in the seat bottom of Jordan for the flying the seat with the escapee's head forward, face downward, and feet aft will be completely destroyed by this rocket fire, aside from fatally spinning the seat anti clockwise.
Jordan does not support feet horizontally aft as taught by the applicant. Jordan, as familiar to those skilled in the art, is designed to separate the escapee from the seat immediately after rocket burn-out. Jordan therefore does not need or provide for human body support, head and legs, head forward and face downward with legs stretched aft horizontally as the applicant's device requires.
In FIG. 3 of Jordan upper far right, the rocket segment is well above the buttocks of the ejectee engulfing the feet, legs, and lower body in the rocket flame leaving the lower segments of the telescoping rocket in the abandoned aircraft. Consider the catastrophic, fatal results of Jordan in combination with barwood, et al with Barwood pulling the feet and legs into the rocket flame of Jordan during ejection. The successful sequence of events must follow the applicant's teaching in FIG. 8, positions 36, 38, and 39 after the rocket flame is extinguished.
It is the purpose of this invention to provide an emergency survival seat ejection system with survival capability equivalent to the current art, but having in addition an add-on capability of substantial cross country escape of pilot controlled flight distance and range capability from the scene of the airplane accident. In war time this escape system could have a most sought after advantage providing the escaped airman-ejectee with a means to escape the enemy during descent from a doomed aircraft and on the ground to escape the tell-tail area of the downed aircraft.